Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II, Part 81

Author: Dunbar Rowland
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Madison, Wis. : S.A. Brant
Number of Pages: 1020

USA > Mississippi > Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II > Part 81

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Digitized by Google

673

MISSISSIPPI

The State land commissioner reported in 1891 that the school indemnity lands confirmed to the State that year by the United States, in lieu of Sixteenth section lands previously granted, to which, for various legal reasons, the State had failed to acquire title, had been located, to the extent of 30,829 acres in Hancock county. Governor McLaurin recommended their sale in 1896, not- withstanding the constitutional prohibition, which he construed, did not "prohibit their sale as it does the Sixteenth section lands."

Skene, a postoffice of Bolivar county, and a station on the Boyle & Sunflower branch of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., 4 miles southwest of Cleveland.

Skinner, a postoffice of Perry county.

Skipper, a postoffice of Kemper county, 8 miles north of Dekalb, the county seat. It has a saw mill, a church and a school.

Slago, a postoffice of Simpson county, 7 miles southwest of Men- denhall.

Slate Spring, an incorporated post-town in the southern part of Calhoun county, about 25 miles east of Grenada, the nearest rail- road and banking town. The old boundary line between the Choc- taw and Chickasaw cessions ran about three miles northeast of the town. It has a college, two churches, a saw mill, a flour mill, and a money order postoffice. Population in 1900, 189.

Slavery. Slavery was revived in Christendom by the wars with the Mohammedans. The explorations of the west African coast by the Portuguese preceded the discovery of America by Colum- bus, and when it was found impracticable to enslave the native Americans, the opportunity of buying slaves of African coast war- riors was taken to solve the problem of labor in exploiting the new world. Slavery was regarded by the jurists from the time of Jus- tinian as contrary to the law of nature and justifiable only as a pun- ishment for debt or crime, or a mitigation of the right of a victor to kill his vanquished enemy in battle. In law, the slavery of negroes in America was based upon the alleged status of war among African tribes. Practically it was regarded as an industrial necessity in a warm climate. But its necessity and propriety were both denied at all times by many. As an incident of the European struggles for supremacy, England obtained from Spain the right to carry on the slave trade, not the government of England directly, but in behalf of a corporation. The institution of slavery in the colonies was in disregard of the admonitions of the Pope, the supreme lawgiver of the Spanish, and English law treated it as a colonial condition not pertaining to the settled civilization of the home country.

The mainland of North America was first visited by the Spanish in search of Indian slaves, but Ponce de Leon was charged with the duty of preventing such raids. Cabeza, the first white man to enter the interior, 1528-36, was accompanied by a negro in his wanderings through the Southwest, Estevanico (Little Steve). Menendez, the founder of St. Augustine, 1565, was authorized by the king of Spain to import 500 negro slaves. The English, foun-

43-11

Digitized by Google

674

MISSISSIPPI

ding Charleston a century later, also introduced negro slaves. Within a few years, the question of fugitive slaves caused war be- tween Florida and Carolina, and there were frightful scenes of car- nage. Caravans of captive Florida Indians were carried away into slavery by the Carolinians about 1702. These wars involved, to some extent, the Indian nations that inhabited the present bounds of Mississippi, and a few negro fugitives or captured slaves were held at the beginning of the 18th century by the Indians. When the king of France made the grant of the Mississippi region to Crozat, there were about twenty African slaves held by the French. There were some at Fort Louis, says Hamilton (Colonial Mobile, 65). "Chateaugay had a negro named Francois Jacemin, who the same year was declared to be the father of Anthoine, born October 26, of Bienville's negro woman, Marie. This is the first recorded birth of a negro on the gulf coast, although these other children may have been born there." Indian slaves were more numerous among the French then. The letters patent issued to Crozat con- tained this provision: "If for the cultures and plantations which the said Sieur Crozat is minded to make, he finds it proper to have blacks in the said country of the Louisiana, he may send a ship every year to trade for them directly upon the coast of Guinea, taking permission from the Guinea Company so to do; he may sell those blacks to the inhabitants of the colony of Louisiana, and we forbid all other companies and persons whatsoever, under any pre- tense whatsoever, to introduce blacks or traffic for them in the said country, nor shall the said Sieur Crozat carry any blacks else- where." It does not appear that he availed himself of the above privilege. One of the stipulations in the grant to the Western Company in 1717, provided that during the life of the charter (twenty-five years), not less than 3,000 negroes be carried over to the colony. The first large importation was made under the au- spices of the Western Company in June, 1719, when Le Grand Duc de Maine and L'Aurore arrived at Dauphin Island with 500 negroes from the coast of Guinea. "In March, 1821, arrived 120 negroes from Guinea in the Africaine, a warship, and also 338 in the Maire, and 138 more in the Neride. The mortality on these slave ships was great. Three hundred and fifty negroes had sailed in the frigate Charles from Angola. This vessel was burned at sea, many of the crew and human cargo perishing." (Hamilton, Colonial Mobile, 87.) During the existence of the company and for several years afterwards, their agents continued to supply the demand at the rate of three to five hundred annually. The com- mon price for a good negro man was about $150; and for a woman, about $120. (His. Coll. of La., vol. iii, p. 64). When the company surrendered its charter in 1732, the black population had increased from 20 to upwards of 2,000.

The black code of Louisiana was drafted by Bienville under the orders of the Western Company in 1724, and was kept in force with few alterations until 1803. It required religious training and pro- hibited amalgamation. When France resumed control of the col-

Digitized by Google

675

MISSISSIPPI

ony after 1732, she continued to supply the province with negroes for the plantations, and many blacks were also imported by both England and Spain. After the Natchez massacre, the slaves there attached themselves to the Indians, but many were killed or retaken by the French.

The region of Mississippi was embraced, at the same time, within the alleged western extension of the English Colony of Carolina, in which slavery was protected. In 1732 General Oglethorpe was granted the southern part of Carolina Claim for a colony that should be the refuge of the unfortunate or oppressed, and negro labor was prohibited in Georgia. If the Georgia title in the west were then a reality, negro slavery was illegal in part of the region of Mississippi for a few years about that time. But the powerful influence of South Carolina soon compelled the introduction of slavery in Georgia, over the earnest protests of some of the colo- nists. After 1763 the Natchez district was settled by immigrants from the American colonies, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New England, as a slave labor colony. The Lyman colony (q. v.) brought a few slaves. Others, coming as did William Dun- bar (q. v.) imported slaves from the West Indies. (See Natchez District and West Florida.). There was no change, of course, dur- ing the Spanish occupation, during which the immigration was re- vived.

Meanwhile, there was a tendency to abolish slavery, in the At- lantic colonies, which finally was effective north of Maryland. It was strong in Virginia, but confined to a few like Henry Laurens, in the Carolinas. Thomas Jefferson endeavored, in 1784, to pro- hibit slavery west of the Chattahoochee river. (See Ordinances of 1784 and 1787). In his opinion "nothing is more certainly writ- ten in the book of fate than that these people are to be free, nor is it less certain that the two races, equally free, cannot live in the same government." There was an effort to restrict slavery to the region where' it then prevailed but the South Atlantic States, with assistance from the slave trading interests in New England, secured a constitutional pledge regarding the recovery of fugitive slaves, the postponement of the abolition of the African slave trade until 1808, and the omission of the clause prohibiting slavery when the Ordinance of 1787 was extended to the Southwest. Though slavery was not prohibited in the Southwest, as it had been in the Northwest, the importation of slaves from foreign lands was pro- hibited. This excluded the slaves of prospective immigrants in the Baton Rouge district, Mobile, and the coast in general. During the discussion by congress of grievances of a portion of the Missis- sippi inhabitants, in the close of the administration of John Adams (1800), a bill was introduced to permit the bringing in of slaves by their owners, without limitation, for the period of one year, it being specified that these slaves were owned at the time when the American government was extended over the Territory. The bill passed the house, but the senate refused to concur. The house was then Republican and the senate Federalist.

Digitized by Google

676

MISSISSIPPI

Governor Sargent (Federalist) in an address urging better or- ganization of the militia, in January, 1801, said: "Almost every day adds to the number of our slaves, and, reasoning from the finer feelings of man, to the number of our most inveterate ene- mies also. 'Tis more than probable, that in the lapse of another year, there will be more blacks than whites within the Mississippi Territory. That we deprive them of the sacred boon of liberty is a crime they can never forgive-mild and humane treatment may for a time continue them quiet, but can never fully reconcile them to their situation-and calculating from the experience of some amongst us, in a war with any European, or even Indian power, they might be irresistably stimulated to vengeance."

In a general militia order, October 4, 1799, Governor Sargent declared that "the law for regulating slaves within the Territory is most shamefully violated, particularly upon Sundays, and the nights of that and the preceding day, and in a very notorious manner at and in the vicinity of Natchez, where slaves are said to assemble in con- siderable numbers from distant plantations, committing great exces- ses, and carrying on an illicit traffic with the aid and connivance of the ill-disposed." The militia commanders of the two countries were directed to order the necessary patrols to be careful in the ex- amination of passports and permits, which slaves were required to have when out of quarters. (See Patrol.) In November, 1800, Governor Sargent circulated a hundred printed copies of his ad- dress announcing the famous plot for an insurrection of slaves in Virginia, and the suppression of the same, and urging the utmost vigilance toward the negroes of the district. Violent assaults had been made upon the overseers of the Lintot and Moore plantations, which, the governor suggested, could be assigned for a reason for strict enforcement of the laws against the carrying of weapons by slaves, the attempted insurrection to be kept secret.

Governor Claiborne (Jeffersonian Republicin) wrote to the sec- retary of state, James Madison, in January, 1802: "A law to pro- hibit the importation into this Territory [from the States] of male slaves, above the age of sixteen, passed the house of repre- sentatives [of Mississippi], but was rejected in the council. This kind of property is becoming alarming, and will in all probability (sooner or later) prove a source of much distress. The culture of cotton is so lucrative, and personal labor consequently so valuable, that common negro fellows will generally command six hundred dollars per head, and if such encouragement should long be af- forded to the sellers of negroes this Territory must soon be over- run by the most abandoned of the unfortunate race."

The recovery of fugitive slaves was a factor in the troubles all along the Florida line, as it had been for a century. A suggestion of the problems that arose may be found in the fact that June 21, 1806, Governor Grand Pré asked the delivery of William Vousdan Keary, of the neighborhood of Pinckneyville, who had recovered a negro of his property from the jail at Baton Rouge and there- upon murdered the negro by a "tedious and cruel death." Secre-

Digitized by Google

677

MISSISSIPPI

tary Meade communicated the request to Secretary Madison, who directed an answer that the two governments had no compact for the mutual surrender of criminals.

In his message of December 4, 1807, Governor Williams said: "I cannot, gentlemen, consistent with my own sense of public duty, and the interest we must all feel for the future prosperity and hap- piness of our country, omit drawing your attention to a subject which I am aware may be equally delicate as important on the score of legislation. I allude to the introduction of a certain spec- ies of population amongst us. That individuals should incline to pursue their particular and immediate interest, regardless of future consequences, and in opposition to that of the community of which they are members, is not uncommon, though it be regretted; hence the necessity of interposing the will of such community to check and abridge the enjoyment or exercise of their individual rights and privileges when opposed to the public good. Slavery being already in our country, we have only to guard against too great an accumulation of the evil and its consequences ; perhaps this can- not be consistently done, but by regulating and limiting the mode and manner of introducing slaves into our Territory. I submit, therefore, whether it may not be proper to prevent their introduc- tion among us for the purpose of traffic and trade; by those, too, whose motives and sole objects are pecuniary ; and who have no immediate or particular interest here, or concern for our political happiness. Were they introduced by those intending to reside among us, by which a relative proportion in our population might be kept up, the conclusions would be different from those the facts now warrant. But they are rummaged from the jails and criminal cells of the Atlantic States, being mostly the dregs of this degraded class of human beings who are brought and let loose amongst us in this way by a lot of mercenary characters, many of whom have no residence here or elsewhere, and of course feel no responsibility or concern, as regards policy or humanity. Was there a probabil- ity of this evil becoming stationary, we might better risk the conse- quences; but the reverse will be the fact. The productiveness of our soil, the proceeds of labor, and withal the favorableness of our climate for these people, will continue to encourage their intro- duction and increase their population in a ratio heretofore un- known in any country. We are justified in this conclusion from the last twelve months experience. Policy, gentlemen, dictates that the consequences to be dreaded and guarded against should be mentioned and acted on with as much prudence and reserve as possible." In 1808 the importation of slaves from the United States or Territories was regulated, preventing the introduction of criminals, and a tax of $5 was laid on each individual import.

After 1808 the importation of negroes from foreign countries was prohibited by United States laws, but smuggling was common until the naval blockade of 1861. The importation of slaves was mainly done by British and New England slave traders. Newport, R. I., was one of the most famous ports whence skippers sailed,

Digitized by Google

6:8

MISSISSIPPI

with more or less secrecy, to engage in the slave trade. The mes- sage of Acting-Governor Ware to legislature of 1815 recited : "The collector of the port of Mobile informs the executive that some negroes have been seized that were brought into that port con- trary to the laws of the United States. You will observe, gentle- men, that the laws subject such negroes to the disposal of the State or Territorial legislature, within whose bounds they were seized. I therefore submit to your consideration, the necessity of making some general law disposing of such property for the bene- fit of the Territory." In 1815, especially to prevent smuggling from Pensacola, there was a Mississippi statute which provided that such importations might be libelled before any superior court, and the slaves sold at auction.

During the summer of 1807 Governor Williams received infor- mation that an insurrection of blacks was suspected, and some of the most respectable citizens requested the patrol to be established. This was done, and a detachment of United States troops placed at Fort Dearborn. The planters were again agitated in January, 1811, by news of the insurrection among the slaves in the parish of St. John Baptist, at the west end of Lake Ponchartrain. About 500 negroes organized to march to New Orleans, and some plantations were ravaged. Gen. Hampton sent troops against them, and a con- siderable number were killed. Sixteen, regarded as leaders, were taken to New Orleans, "tried, convicted and excuted in an exem- plary manner, after which their heads were exposed on poles at dif- ferent points along the river." (Monette, II. 491.) The militia officers in the Natchez district were ordered to establish patrols on account of this insurrection. Each captain put out eight men to patrol at night in the respective company districts. The two companies at the town of Washington were, in case of alarm, to rendezvous at the government house and the home of Charles De France. Lieutenant White, commanding at Fort Adams, was called on to supply arms.

In 1812 the Territory was threatened by war with Great Britain, and was called on for troops to serve auxiliary to the regular forces under Gen. Wilkinson. When Governor Holmes had 700 men in camp for this purpose he reported to the general that remon- strances of the inhabitants forbade him to put more men at his call. This was not alone because of fear of the Indians. "In slave coun- tries the danger of insurrection always exists, and the inhabitants should be prepared to meet the event. . Nearly one half

of the entire population are slaves." Both the British and Ameri- can commanders made use of negroes as soldiers in the ensuing war. Admiral Cochrane brought to Ship Island two black regi- ments he had enlisted on the eastern coast. Along the Mississippi river the British picked up 200 negro slaves. Gen. Jackson, in his report of the New Orleans campaign, said: "The two corps of col- ored volunteers have not disappointed the hopes that were formed of their courage and perseverance in the performance of their duty." These "men of color," as he entitled them in his address

Digitized by Google

679

MISSISSIPPI

before the battle, he collected from "the shores of Mobile." At the close of the war the British had many refugees or captured slaves on Dauphine island, and Gen. Lambart would "not admit that the agreement of surrender of captured property covered slaves, as England did not recognize property in human beings." The own- ers were finally allowed to take them if they could persuade them to return by talking with them. (Colonial Mobile, 358).

Laws for the police regulation of the slave population, existed in the Natchez district when the United States took possession. Among the earliest regulations of the Territory it was forbidden to allow slaves to cultivate on their own account, because it af- forded a cloak for the selling of stolen cotton. There were laws also to protect the slaves from cruelty. Daniel Ryan, in 1802, having been found guilty of manslaughter for the killing of a negro, was sentenced to imprisonment in the jail, to be burned in the brawn of the left thumb and pay a fine of thirty dollars. The gov- ernor remitted the fine.

In Spanish times the commandants exercised the right of eman- cipating slaves, even against the consent of the owner, compensa- tion being given. By the act of 1805 it was unlawful to liberate slaves, except by permission of the general assembly for some meritorious act; even in that case the owner must give bond that the slave should not become a public charge, and even then the slave is liable to be taken to pay a debt contracted by the master before emancipation. The evidence of slaves was not taken in court except for or against each other. Slaves were forbidden to go from their place of abode to another without a pass, letter or token ; if without the same any person could arrest the slave and take him before a justice for whipping; the owner or overseer of a plantation, entered by a slave without authority, could inflict similar punishment without recourse to a magistrate. Slaves were strictly forbidden to keep or carry firearms. Masters should not allow their slaves to be more than four hours absent without leave, on penalty of heavy fine. Meetings were prohibited by the regu- lation that no master should allow more than five slaves not his own to remain on his plantation at any one time, but this was not to be construed against their meeting at a public mill or any other lawful occasion by license in writing, "nor their going to church, and attending divine service, on the Lord's day, and be- tween sun-rising and sun-setting." Riots, routs, unlawful assemblies, trespasses and seditious speeches, were punishable by 39 stripes or less. Any white person, free negro or mulatto, meeting with slaves at any unlawful meeting (more than five without license) should be fined $20. Trading with slaves without the master's permission was punishable by heavy fine; letting a slave go at large and trade as a freeman or hire himself out, was an offence in the master that called for a fine of $50. "Whereas many times slaves run away and lie out hid, and lurking in swamps, woods and other obscure places, killing hogs and committing other injuries," pro- vision was made for rewards for their apprehension, out of the pub-

Digitized by Google

680

MISSISSIPPI

lic treasury. Slaves were forbidden to keep dogs or own horses or mules. Conspiring to make insurrection was punishable by death. "And whereas it has been the humane policy of all civilized nations, where slavery has been permitted, to protect this useful but de- graded class of men from cruelty and oppression; therefore, no cruel or unusual punishment shall be inflicted on any slave within this Territory." The limit of fine therefore was $200. In 1809 the selling of intoxicants to slaves was prohibited; patrols were authorized to kill all dogs owned by negroes; masters who allowed slaves to keep any live stock were to be fined $50; slaves found eight miles from home without a pass, or who had lain out two days without leave, were to be considered runaways. In 1809 it was made lawful for any citizen, on observing a slave offer any- thing for sale, without a written permit, to arrest the slave. (See Statutes of 1814.)

The first constitution of the State (1817) provided that the leg- islature should have no power to emancipate slaves without the consent of their owners, except for "some distinguished service" to the State, in which case the owner should be compensated. The legislature was forbidden to prevent immigrants bringing with them as their bona fide property "such persons as are deemed slaves by the laws of any one of the United States, so long as any person of the same age or description shall be continued in slavery by the laws of this State." It was authorized to exclude slaves guilty of high crimes ; to pass laws to permit emancipation by owners, sav- ing the rights of creditors and protecting the public against indi- gence. "They shall have full power to prevent slaves from being brought into this State as merchandise; and, also, to oblige the owners of slaves to treat them with humanity ; to provide them with necessary clothing and provisions, to abstain from all injuries to them extending to life and limb." The clauses regarding slaves were modeled on the Kentucky constitution, but were less liberal toward emancipation. The first legislature, in January, 1818, passed an act to confirm the emancipation by the will of Col. Ben- ajah Osmun, of "his boy Jerry," but not without considerable dis- cussion. The next session passed an act authorizing John Baptiste Nicaisse to emancipate his daughter, "the mulatto girl named Isa- bella," "saving, however, the right of creditors," and on condition that her father give bond that she should not become a public charge. (Acts of 1818, p. 27-28).

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II, Part 81

Author: Dunbar Rowland Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Madison, Wis. : S.A. Brant Number of Pages: 1020

Author: Dunbar Rowland
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Madison, Wis. : S.A. Brant
Number of Pages: 1020